News

The latest updates from our Party

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Calls on McCain to Show Responsibility and Offer Plan for Iraq

Posted April 7, 2008

Even as rockets exploded in the so-called "Green Zone" yesterday in Baghdad, John McCain chose to launch another round of irresponsible political attacks rather than offer a real plan for the future in Iraq. The attack came though a majority of Americans support troop withdrawal, and 89 percent of Americans think the cost of the war has contributed to the economic problems in our country. [New York Times, 4/4/08] With General Petraeus testifying before the Senate today, John McCain is still silent on the issue of political progress in Iraq and where we go from here.

"Adopting George W. Bush's penchant for cherry-picking the facts and misleading the American people is the wrong approach for John McCain, and the wrong approach for America," Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Joe Wineke said. "With 87 troops from Wisconsin already having lost their lives in Iraq, Wisconsinites want to hear a plan for Iraq going forward, not political attacks designed to distract from McCain's lack of answers on the war. John McCain ought to exercise real responsibility and provide Wisconsinites and every American with a real plan for Iraq."

In his Kansas City remarks yesterday, McCain never explained if he agrees with General Petraeus' concerns that Iraq's leaders are failing to make the political progress the surge was supposed to make possible, and never explained what he would do to encourage that critical political progress. And while McCain’s campaign continues to backtrack from his willingness to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years, McCain himself refused to say whether he plans to build permanent bases in Iraq. And, despite the tremendous economic cost of the war, McCain never said how he plans to pay for his ‘stay the course’ strategy in Iraq while making President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy permanent - a prescription for trillions of dollars in new debt.

"The American people know that ‘100 years’ is not a plan," Wineke added, "and that a Commander-in-Chief has to explain not just what he'll do in Iraq, but also to bring balance to our Army and National Guard. If Wisconsin voters can't count on a plan from McCain while he's running for President, what should they expect if he were to become President?"